In addition, all of my trades were posted real-time in the chat room. You can read today's chat room logs for details about each one of my trades via price action trading from entry to exit (e.g. time, price, contract size) along with price action commentary as the trade traversed to its completion...all archived @http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=126&t=1704

Also, posted below are direct links to information about my price action trade methodology and trading plan (there's a difference between the two) that enables me to identify key trading areas in the price action that represent changes in supply/demand and volatility along with being able to exploit these changes via WRB Analysis (wide range body/bar analysis). I'm primarily a day trader because it suits my personal lifestyle but I do occasionally swing trade and position trade. Simply, my trade method is applicable for position trading, swing trading and day trading.

##TheStrategyLab Chat Room is free. Members and I use the chat room to post WRB Analysis commentary, real-time trades and to post anything else related to trading. The chat room helps me tremendously in my own trading because I use it to document (journal) my thought process from trade to trade so that I can easily review at a later date my thoughts as I interacted with the markets...info I can not get from my broker statements. Also, this is not a signal calling chat room where a head trader tells you when to buy or sell. If you join the chat room and then you do not ask any questions about WRB Analysis in your own trading...the chat room will not be useful to you. Chat room access instructions @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/tsl/forum/viewforum.php?f=164

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)Stocks slid Thursday as investors worried about corporate earnings. The Dow dropped more than 180 points and declined for the third day in a row, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also finished lower.

Stocks have been off to a rocky start in 2014 while bonds have outperformed. After last year's big rally, investors are looking for signs the economy will be strong enough to keep the bull market going. And so earnings have come squarely in focus.

But good news from Microsoft could help the markets on Friday. Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) rose in after-hours trading thanks to better-than-expected earnings and sales. Despite the strong results, investors will likely be listening for more information on Microsoft's CEO succession plans.

Shares of Noki (NOK)tanked after the cell phone and networking equipment maker reported a bigger than expected loss and drop in sales. Microsoft is in the process of buying Nokia's device business.

Shares of IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) ended slightly higher after it announced a deal early Thursday to sell part of its server business to Chinese computer maker Lenovo (LNVGF) for $2.3 billion. IBM fell on Wednesday as well following a weak earnings report.

Facebook (FB, Fortune 500)shares dropped after a report Wednesday called the social media giant's longevity into question by comparing it to MySpace. Facebook had been on a tear, but shares have pulled back in recent days as investors gear up for the company's earnings next week.

Some felt the report was nonsense.

"$FB where are you people coming out of the woodwork with all this stuff about FB not around in a couple years?," said StockTwits user Scorponox.

Shares of Herbalife (HLF) plunged 10% after Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, called for an investigation into the company's business practices.

The vitamin and nutritional supplements distributor has been caught in the middle of a battle between hedge fund titans, including Pershing Square's Bill Ackman, who has called it a pyramid scheme, and Carl Icahn, who has a big stake in the company.

"Bill Ackman is having a good day. $HLF," quipped StockTwits trader adamwins76.

But StockTwits trader CalvinGecko disagrees with Ackman's thesis.

"$HLF...This is not a pyramid. Senators letters mean nothing," he said.

But there were some big winners even as the broader market sank.

Netflix (NFLX), a member of CNNMoney's Tech 30 Index, jumped over 16% after the company reported its biggest quarterly gain in subscribers in three years.

StockTwits user irwebreport felt the Netflix's announcement came as a surprise to the market.

"$NFLX chances of it being a top S&P 500 performer 2 yrs in a row now look good.," he said. "Yesterday this time it seemed impossible."

Shares of eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) got a bump after the online auction site said Wednesday that Icahn took a small stake in the company and submitted a proposal to spin out PayPal into a separate business. eBay said it had no plans to follow through on Icahn's plan. CEO John Donahue called it a "distraction" on the company's earnings conference call.

Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) shares turned higher after Icahn took to Twitter to disclose that he had increased his stake in the company by $500 million. If that sounds familiar, it's because he did the exact same thing yesterday. The activist investor has been publicly campaigning for Apple to return more cash to shareholders in the form of a $150 billion buyback. On Thursday, he put out a seven page letter to Apple making his case.

The major European markets ended down while Asian markets finished lower on disappointing report on manufacturing activity in China.

4:15 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 snapped its modest two-day win streak with its second-largest decline of the month. The index lost 0.9% as nine of ten sectors registered losses.

Although stocks sold off throughout the day, the weakness actually started during the overnight futures session when three China-related developments began fueling the risk-off sentiment:

The HSBC flash PMI reading for January was below expectations at 49.6. The sub-50 reading is indicative of manufacturing activity contracting; and the January reading marked a six-month low for the series. A Financial Times report indicated Chinese authorities are working to prevent a default of a $500 million high-yield investment trust, failure of which could trigger an unnerving fallout in China's shadow banking system. An SEC administrative law judge issued a ruling that censures the accounting arms of the "Big Four" in China for six months due to their unwillingness to turn over requested documents involving US-listed Chinese companies under investigation for accounting fraud.

The three developments did enough damage to sentiment that a slate of mostly better-than-expected earnings could not halt the day-long slide. The discretionary sector (-0.7%) finished just ahead of the broader market after last year's top S&P 500 component, Netflix (NFLX 388.72, +54.99), surged 16.5% in reaction to its bottom-line beat and above-consensus guidance.

Outside of the discretionary space, the technology sector (-0.4%) was the only outperformer among cyclical groups. F5 Networks (FFIV 102.49, +5.01) spiked 5.1% following its better-than-expected results while the top sector component, Apple (AAPL 556.18, +4.67), gained 0.9% after investor Carl Icahn said he increased his stake in the company by another $500 million today. This comes after Mr. Icahn made similar comments yesterday.

The remaining four cyclical groups-energy, financials, industrials, and materials-ended with losses between 1.1% and 1.7% with financials posting the largest loss.

On the countercyclical side, the weakest sector of the year, telecom services (+1.0%), posted a solid loss while consumer staples (-0.9%), health care (-0.7%), and utilities (-0.3%) could not stay out of the red.

Treasuries booked solid gains, ending near their highs with the 10-yr yield down nine basis points at 2.78%. The safety bid was also reflected in gold futures (+1.9% to $1262.60) and the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 13.76, +0.92), which notched a fresh 2014 intraday high at 14.66% before retreating into the close.

The selloff invited above-average participation as 765 million shares changed hands at the NYSE.

Today's economic data included four reports:

The initial claims level increased to 326,000 from a downwardly revised 325,000 (from 326,000) while the Briefing.com consensus expected the reading to increase to 327,000. The seasonal problems from the holiday period have ended, and, as expected, the initial claims have settled around 330,000. The numbers suggest that there have been no notable changes in labor conditions over the last couple of months. The November Housing Price Index from the FHFA increased 0.1%, which followed an uptick of 0.5% observed during the prior month. December existing home sales increased 1.0% to 4.87 million from a downwardly revised 4.82 million (from 4.90 million). The Briefing.com consensus pegged December existing home sales at 4.90 million. For the year, 5.090 million homes were sold in 2013. That was the most homes sold since 2006. Unfortunately, the trends are moving in a negative direction. Year-over-year sales in December fell 0.6%. That was the second consecutive, monthly year-over-year decline. Before November, existing home sales had not declined on a year-over-year basis since June 2011. The Conference Board's Index of Leading Indicators increased 0.1% in December after increasing an upwardly revised 1.0% (from 0.8%) in November. The Briefing.com consensus expected the leading indicators to increase 0.2%. On the surface, the drop in the index seems like economic growth is poised for a slowdown. However, the seasonal biases that negatively impacted the initial claims level throughout December resulted in a 0.34 percentage-point reduction in the growth of leading indicators. Now that the volatility has ended and claims have returned to their normal and lower level, the negative contribution should reverse next month.

Feb gold rose for the first time in three sessions as the dollar index fell deeper into negative territory. In addition, reports indicated that Sonia Gandhi, Indian National Congress party chief, asked the government to ease its gold import restrictions. The yellow metal came off its session low of $1248.70 per ounce set at pit trade open and spent the remainder of the session trading above the $1250 per ounce level. It eventually settled with a 1.9% gain at $1262.60 per ounce. Mar silver also traded in the black today. Prices rose to a session high of $20.31 per ounce but pulled back in late morning action. Silver then held steady just above the $20 per ounce level and settled at $20.01 per ounce, or 0.9% higher. Mar crude oil extended gains for a fourth consecutive session as it gained support from the weaker dollar index and weekly inventory data. The EIA reported that for the week ending Jan 17, crude oil inventories had a build of 0.99 mln barrels while a build of 0.6-1.15 mln barrels was anticipated. The energy component lifted from its session low of $96.81 per barrel and brushed a session high of $97.83 per barrel before settling with a 0.5% gain at $97.25 per barrel. Feb natural gas brushed a session high of $4.89 per MMBtu moments after the EIA reported that natural gas inventories fell by 107 bcf for the week ending Jan 17 vs expectations for a draw of 104-110 bcf. However, the momentum faded and prices trended lower for the remainder of the session. Natural gas eventually settled at $4.73 per MMBtu, or 0.9% higher.

3:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 trades lower by 1.1% with one hour remaining in today's session. The benchmark index enters the final hour of action after spending the entire day in a steady retreat. Notably, a handful of sectors have ticked up off their lows during the past 30 minutes, which leaves the market with four underperforming groups (energy, financials, industrials, and materials). The financial sector, which paced today's selling, has trimmed its loss to 1.7% after being down as much as 2.1%.

On the upside, the telecom services sector (+0.7%) remains near its session high.

2:35 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 has ticked up off its lows, but don't call it a comeback just yet as the index sits just three points above its session low.

Earlier we called attention to the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 14.44, +1.60), which has now eclipsed its January high of 14.59%. The near-term volatility measure notched a session high at 14.66% before retreating to its current level.

2:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Recent action saw the major averages slide to fresh lows. The Dow (-1.4%) continues to lead the retreat, but the Nasdaq (-1.2%) and S&P 500 (-1.3%) are not faring much better.

Cyclical sectors remain weak and the financial space, which has been lagging since the open, has extended its loss to 2.1%. Elsewhere, the materials sector (-2.1%) is the only other group sporting a loss of 2.0% or more.

1:35 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The stock market has been stuck in a selling rut since the start of trading, all but ignoring the animal spirits surrounding Netflix (NFLX 387.25, +53.52) after its home-run report. Instead, the market, which is down 1.1%, has been steered predominantly by a hat trick of factors involving China:

The HSBC flash PMI reading for January was below expectations at 49.6. The sub-50 reading is indicative of manufacturing activity contracting; and the January reading marks a six-month low for the series. A Financial Times report indicated Chinese authorities are working to prevent a default of a $500 mln high-yield investment trust, failure of which could trigger an unnerving fallout in China's shadow banking system. An SEC administrative law judge issued a ruling that censures the accounting arms of the "Big Four" in China for six months due to their unwillingness to turn over requested documents involving US-listed Chinese companies under investigation for accounting fraud.It isn't all China though.

We suspect there is a disappointment trade at work as weak-handed holders of long positions are caving on today's price action, which follows repeated instances of the S&P 500 being unable to break out convincingly to new highs. The lack of a broader, bullish response to the Netflix report has presumably been another profit-taking trigger.

Overall, defensive-oriented posturing is evident in today's trade with gold prices ($1261.70, +23.10) up 1.9%, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 14.21, +1.37) up 10.7%, and the 10-yr Treasury note up 22 ticks to bring its yield down to 2.79%. Within the stock market, the strongest pocket of relative strength is the telecom services (+0.5%) sector.

1:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] At midday, the major averages are pinned to their lows with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-1.1%) leading the weakness.

Stocks have been pressured throughout the first half of the trading day but the selling began overnight in the futures market after China's HSBC Manufacturing PMI missed expectations with a contractionary reading of 49.6 (50.6 forecast). The disappointing report combined with a Financial Times story indicating Chinese officials are scrambling to prevent a default of a high-yield $500 million investment trust set the early tone.

Interestingly, participants have stayed away from risk with several better-than-expected quarterly reports unable to invite the 'buy-the-dip' trade. On that note, last year's top S&P 500 component, Netflix (NFLX 385.36, +51.62), has surged 15.5% after beating earnings estimates and guiding higher. The stock has been a factor in the outperformance of the discretionary sector (-0.9%), but the broader market has not responded.

Outside of the discretionary sector, the tech space (-0.8%) is the only other outperformer among cyclical groups. The remaining four sectors-energy, financials, industrials, and materials-hold losses between 1.2% (industrials) and 1.7% (financials).

Notably, the industrial sector owes its outperformance to transports. GATX (GMT 60.45, +8.62) and Union Pacific (UNP 173.51, +5.01) hold respective gains of 16.7% and 3.0% while the broader Dow Jones Transportation Average (+0.2%) trades at a fresh record high.

Elsewhere, countercyclical sectors have held up relatively well, but outside of telecom services (+0.8%), the remaining groups hold losses between 0.4% and 0.9%.

Today's steady selling has translated into strength for the bond market as Treasuries hover near their highs with the 10-yr yield down eight basis points at 2.79%.

In addition to fueling a Treasury bid, the selloff has also sent participants in search of volatility protection. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 13.95, +1.11) is higher by 8.6%, which puts it on track for its fourth consecutive advance.

Today's economic data included four reports:

The initial claims level increased to 326,000 from a downwardly revised 325,000 (from 326,000) while the Briefing.com consensus expected the reading to increase to 327,000. The seasonal problems from the holiday period have ended, and, as expected, the initial claims have settled around 330,000. The numbers suggest that there have been no notable changes in labor conditions over the last couple of months. The November Housing Price Index from the FHFA increased 0.1%, which followed an uptick of 0.5% observed during the prior month. December existing home sales increased 1.0% to 4.87 million from a downwardly revised 4.82 million (from 4.90 million). The Briefing.com consensus pegged December existing home sales at 4.90 million. For the year, 5.090 million homes were sold in 2013. That was the most homes sold since 2006. Unfortunately, the trends are moving in a negative direction. Year-over-year sales in December fell 0.6%. That was the second consecutive, monthly year-over-year decline. Before November, existing home sales had not declined on a year-over-year basis since June 2011. The Conference Board's Index of Leading Indicators increased 0.1% in December after increasing an upwardly revised 1.0% (from 0.8%) in November. The Briefing.com consensus expected the leading indicators to increase 0.2%. On the surface, the drop in the index seems like economic growth is poised for a slowdown. However, the seasonal biases that negatively impacted the initial claims level throughout December resulted in a 0.34 percentage-point reduction in the growth of leading indicators. Now that the volatility has ended and claims have returned to their normal and lower level, the negative contribution should reverse next month.

12:30 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages continue to trade just a shade off their lows as selling pressure persists. Most individual sectors also sit near their worst levels of the day while consumer staples (-0.9%), health care (-0.9%), and telecom services (+0.6%) have been able to distance themselves from session lows.

As a result of today's decline, only two group-health care and utilities-remain in positive territory for the month. The two sectors sport respective January gains of 2.5% and 1.0% versus a 1.2% month-to-date decline for the S&P 500.

Also of note, Treasuries have jumped to fresh highs in a move that coincided with yen strength. The 10-yr yield is now down nine basis points at 2.78% while dollar/yen sits near 103.39, which is the lowest level of the session.

12:00 pm: [BRIEFING.COM] Stocks continue to hover near their lows with the S&P 500 down 0.9%. As mentioned earlier, most cyclical sectors continue to trail the broader market and the industrial sector is one today's laggards.

Interestingly, even though the sector trades lower by 1.1%, transports have been able to withstand most of the selling after GATX (GMT 59.71, +7.88) and Union Pacific (UNP 173.74, +5.24) reported better-than-expected earnings. The two stocks hold respective gains of 14.9% and 3.2% while the Dow Jones Transportation Average trades flat after closing at a fresh record high yesterday.

11:35 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Equity indices have inched off their lows but the rebound has ways to go before reclaiming a significant portion of the losses.

Cyclical groups remain weak across the board with only two sectors-consumer discretionary (-0.8%) and technology (-0.7%)-trading ahead of the broader market. Notably, Netflix (NFLX 384.98, +51.25) has factored into the outperformance of discretionary shares after beating its earnings estimates.

Elsewhere, the tech sector outperforms with a bit of help from eBay (EBAY 55.12, +0.71), Oracle (ORCL 38.20, +0.22), and IBM (IBM 182.82, +0.57). However, outside of the trio, other major tech components trade lower.

11:00 am: [BRIEFING.COM] Sellers remain in control with the major averages hovering near their lows. The S&P 500 holds a loss of 1.0% as all six cyclical sectors display noteworthy declines. Financials slumped at the open, and the sector continues to trail the remaining groups with a loss of 1.6%. Furthermore, energy (-1.1%), materials (-1.3%), industrials (-1.1%) also sport losses of 1.0% or more while consumer discretionary (-0.8%) and technology (-0.9%) trade just ahead of the broader market.

Today's weakness among equities has been a supportive factor to the bond market. Treasuries sit just below their highs with the 10-yr yield down six basis points at 2.81%. In turn, lower yields have contributed to the outperformance of telecom services (+0.3%) and utilities (-0.4%).

Also of note, the early selling sparked a flight towards volatility protection as the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 14.02, +1.18) trades higher by 9.2%. The near-term volatility measure is on track for its fourth gain in a row as it nears its 2014 high of 14.59%.

10:30 am: [BRIEFING.COM]

Commodities have been mostly higher this morning with a weakening dollar index. The dollar index began to slide lower early in the overnight session and just hit another new LoD, which has provided price support to the commodity complex. Crude oil rallied this morning and rose as high as $97.41/barrel. Mar crude is now +0.5% at $97.17/barrel Natural gas futures have been in positive territory all day so far, but began to sell off somewhat ahead of the weekly EIA inventory data. Just ahead of the data, Feb nat gas was +2.5% at $4.81/MMBtu. Following the data, Feb nat gas futures initially spiked higher a little and is now +3.7% at $4.86/MMBtu The weak dollar index has given precious metals a boost as gold and silver have been climbing higher all morning so far Feb gold is now +2.0% at $1263.20/oz, Mar silver is +2.2% at $20.27/oz.

December existing home sales hit an annualized rate of 4.87 million units, which was a bit weaker than the rate of 4.90 million units that had been generally expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The pace for December was down from the prior month's revised rate of 4.83 million units.

Separately, the Leading Indicators report for December increased 0.1%. That followed a 0.8% increase in November, and was worse than the 0.2% uptick expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

9:45 am: [BRIEFING.COM] The major averages began the session on a lower note with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.9%) leading the decline. Dow underperformance has been a common theme so far this month as the price-weighted index holds a January loss of 2.1% versus a 0.9% decline for the S&P 500.

Speaking of the S&P 500, the benchmark index trades lower by 0.8% with all ten sectors showing early losses. Notably, the financial sector (-1.1%) is the weakest performer in the early going while consumer discretionary (-0.7%) and health care (-0.9%) follow not far behind. The three sectors should be watched throughout the session given they account for roughly 40% of the entire S&P 500. Meanwhile, the largest sector, technology, outperforms with a loss of 0.6%.

Also of note, the Japanese yen has been strengthening throughout the morning, which suggests some carry trades are being unwound. Dollar/yen trades near 103.57 after ending yesterday near 104.80. The early equity weakness has translated into strength for the bond market.

Treasuries are on their highs with the 10-yr yield down five basis points at 2.82%.

December Existing Home Sales and Leading Indicators will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

9:15 am: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -9.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -13.80. The major averages are on track for a cautious open as index futures hover near their pre-market lows. The S&P 500 futures trade ten points below fair value with a portion of the decline coming after China's HSBC Manufacturing PMI slipped into contraction. The reading declined to 49.6 from 50.5 with new orders and new export orders also showing declines. Futures saw another decline during the past 30 minutes in a move that coincided with a strengthening yen as well as a selloff across European indices.

Turning back to the U.S., investors received a fair dose of mostly better-than-expected quarterly earnings since yesterday's close but the reports have been unable to lift the futures market out of the red. AmerisourceBergen (ABC 72.75, +2.47), eBay (EBAY 55.80, +1.39), F5 Networks (FFIV 108.50, +11.02), McDonald's (MCD 94.44, -0.44), Netflix (NFLX 389.50, +55.77), and United Continental (UAL 47.50, -1.68) all reported above-consensus results that are currently being overshadowed by broad-market weakness.

Treasuries hold gains with the 10-yr yield down five basis points at 2.82%.

Markets across Asia ended mostly lower after China's HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI slipped into contraction for the first time since July with a 49.6 print (50.6 expected, 50.5 previous). In other regional data, South Korea's GDP was in-line at 0.9% quarter-over-quarter, Taiwan's industrial production surged 5.1% year-over-year (2.0% expected), and Singapore's inflation rate cooled to 1.5% year-over-year (2.2% expected, 2.6% previous).

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.8%, marking its first loss in three days as a stronger yen weighed. Exporters lagged as Toyota Motor lost 1.3% and Canon shed 0.8%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng led the region lower with a 1.5% decline. Financials and property developers were pressured as China Construction Bank and Hang Lung Properties gave up 3.0% and 5.1%, respectively. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.5%, pulling back after two days of strong gains. Losses were widespread as blue chips Shanghai Pudong Development Bank lost 1.3% and China Vanke fell 1.7%.

Major European indices hover in the red after the release of several regional PMI readings that were mostly ahead of expectations. Eurozone Manufacturing PMI rose to 53.9 from 52.7 (53.0 expected) while Services PMI improved to 51.9 from 51.0 (51.4 last). Separately, the current account surplus widened to EUR23.50 billion from EUR22.20 billion (EUR19.20 billion forecast). Germany's Manufacturing PMI rose to 56.3 from 54.3 (54.6 consensus) while Services PMI ticked up to 53.6 from 53.5 (54.0 expected). French Manufacturing PMI increased to 48.8 from 47.0 (47.5 forecast) while Services PMI rose to 48.6 from 47.8 (48.1 forecast). Separately, the Business Survey held steady at 100, as expected. Elsewhere, Great Britain's CBI Distributive Trades Survey decreased to 14 from 34 (25 consensus) and Spain's Unemployment Rate rose to 26.03% from 25.98% (26.00% expected).

France's CAC is lower by 0.4% after giving up its modest early gain. Airbus Group is the weakest index performer, down 2.2%. On the upside, financials BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, and Societe Generale are all up between 0.5% and 1.8%. Great Britain's FTSE trades down 0.4% with EasyJet and Pearson leading the decline. The two names hold respective losses of 2.8% and 7.9% after issuing profit warnings. Miners are showing strength with Anglo American, Fresnillo, and Randgold Resources up between 1.3% and 3.5%. In Germany, the DAX holds a loss of 0.7% as financials trade in mixed fashion. Allianz and Muenchener Re are down 2.2% and 1.4%, respectively, while Commerzbank trades higher by 1.8% and Deutsche Bank holds an advance of 1.2%.

In domestic economic news, the November Housing Price Index from the FHFA increased 0.1%, which followed an uptick of 0.5% observed during the prior month.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 326,000, which was lower than the 327,000 that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. Today's tally was just above the revised prior week count of 325,000 (from 326,000). As for continuing claims, they rose to 3.056 million from 3.022 million.

Weekly initial claims will be reported at 8:30 ET while the November FHFA Housing Price Index will be released at 9:00 ET. December Existing Home Sales and Leading Indicators will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

Gold retreated from a six-week high, paring the longest weekly rally since September 2012, as investors assessed whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep reducing stimulus.

Bullion for immediate delivery fell as much as 0.4 percent to $1,259.21 an ounce, and traded at $1,259.31 by 12:42 p.m. in Singapore. Prices reached $1,266.51 yesterday, the highest since Dec. 10. The metal is up 0.5 percent this week, heading for a fifth such gain. In China, volumes for the benchmark contract on the Shanghai Gold Exchange rose yesterday to the most since Jan. 6, when levels reached an eight-month high.

Gold jumped 2.2 percent yesterday, the most since October, as purchases of previously owned homes in the U.S. and the Chicago Federal National Activity Index trailed estimates, while the number of Americans continuing to receive jobless benefits unexpectedly increased.

“Markets are considering whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue to lower its stimulus measures,” Lachlan Shaw, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in an e-mail. “Many expect the committee will decide to further trim its bond-buying program. We expect gold prices to remain pressured as expectations mount the Fed will taper stimulus.”

Fed policy makers meet Jan. 28-29 after deciding in December to cut monthly bond buying as the economy improved, helping to halt gold’s 12-year bull run. The Federal Open Market Committee will reduce asset purchases by $10 billion at each meeting to end the program this year, according to the median of forecasts by economists in a Bloomberg survey.

India Imports

In India, which probably ceded the top consumer rank to China last year as the government restricted imports to contain a current account deficit, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram reiterated in a Bloomberg Television interview that gold imports will be curbed into the next fiscal year. Congress President Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the commerce ministry seeking lower import duties on bullion, CNBC Awaaz television reported yesterday.

Gold for April delivery lost 0.3 percent to $1,259.10 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest bullion-backed exchange-traded product, fell for a second day yesterday, contracting 0.7 percent in the biggest one-day decrease since Dec. 23.

Platinum rose 0.1 percent to $1,457.88 an ounce, heading for a fifth weekly increase. South Africa’s government and union officials will meet today to try to resolve a strike that’s crippling mines run by the three biggest platinum producers.

Silver was little changed at $20.0349 an ounce, set for the biggest weekly decline in a month. Palladium added 0.4 percent to $747.53 an ounce, paring the first weekly loss in five weeks.

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